I Loved Her First
by spellwrite
Summary: SONG-FIC! She would always be his daughter, his baby girl, no matter who she decided to give her heart to - no matter how hard it would be to watch her love a pirate. Just a short ONE-SHOT.


**Disclaimer: I do not, however much I wish, own POTC or any of the characters in it. If I did, I wouldn't be writing Jack and Elizabeth together as Jack would have me to keep him occupied!**

**The song 'I Loved Her First' belongs solely to Heartland, who are also not me!**

**I Loved Her First**

He watched as the younger man took her hand, leading her across the deck to the centre of the crowd. He looked on quietly as the man wrapped his arms around her delicate waist, pulling her close to their body. They cradled her gently as she placed her hands across their back, returning the embrace. Her gaze held theirs as they swayed slowly across the deck, lost in each other completely.

_Look at the two of you dancing that way_

_Lost in the moment and each other's face_

_So much in love you're alone in this place_

_Like there's nobody else in this world._

He remembered when she used to dance with him. He had taught her how to move smoothly across the floor, and now he watched as she danced with this other man. Her grace, he decided, came naturally to her. She was beautiful.

He could easily see how the two lovers had come together. They were a perfect fit in every way. It seemed as though each knew exactly what the other was thinking as they moved as one being. He couldn't help the feeling of deep loss which resonated through his chest as he watched them.

_I was enough for her not long ago_

_I was her number one_

_She told me so_

_And she still means the world to me_

_Just so you know_

_So be careful when you hold my girl_

_Time changes everything _

_Life must go on_

_And I'm not gonna stand in your way… _

He should have locked the man up, let alone kept him away from his precious daughter. But he hadn't. The truth was, as much as he might argue that the pirate placed her in constant danger, he knew deep down that she was more protected by him than he liked to admit. Yes, she was in dangerous situations but her lover always seemed to know what she could handle and when she needed rescuing. He knew the younger man would protect her with his life. No matter how much he wished that she was still his little girl, he wasn't going to stand in their way when she was so happy.

_But I loved her first and I held her first_

_And a place in my heart will always be hers_

_From the first breath she breathed_

_When she first smiled at me_

_I knew the love of a father runs deep_

_And I prayed that she'd find you someday_

_But it's still hard to give her away_

_I loved her first…_

He though back to the day when his life had been turned on its head. He held his baby daughter for the first time and realised that nothing would ever be as important as her and her happiness. She was crying as her tiny, delicate body was placed in his arms. He had held her close to his heart. Gently rocking from side to side, he soothed her until her cries faded to quiet sniffles. Her brilliant wide eyes had turned on him and he knew he would do anything for her. He would give his life to make her happy.

He though back to her childhood. She had been so carefree and everybody loved her. She would spend the day with her nurse, her energy boundless as she played in the garden, searching for adventure. It was not a shock that she ended up with such an eccentric man. She still craved the adventure which she sought as a child, all the stories he told her as she lay in her bed capturing her imagination.

_How could that beautiful woman with you_

_Be the same freckle face kid that I knew_

_The one that I read all those fairy tales to_

_And tucked into bed all those nights_

_And I knew the first time I saw you with her_

_It was only a matter of time…_

His mind flashed back to the day that the couple had met. Her knight in shining armour had saved her from the depths of the ocean. He had seen the look of complete adoration on her face as she shook his arms from her, stepping forward to defend the man who had saved her life.

Ever since that first meeting he had seen the love that shone from her eyes and he knew that this would be the man who would take her away from him. As fate would have it, the young man would save her life more times than he dared to count. He had always returned her to him, even though the older man could see he was taking her heart a piece at a time. They knew would end up together…he watched, helpless, as it happened.

_But I loved her first and I held her first_

_And a place in my heart will always be hers_

_From the first breath she breathed_

_When she first smiled at me_

_I knew the love of a father runs deep_

_And I prayed that she'd find you someday_

_But it's still hard to give her away_

_I loved her first…_

He could see the love between them. He had always prayed for her happiness. He hoped that she would find a man worthy of her – a man to love and protect her, worship her until their last breath. He just wished that he could still be the one that his baby turned to. He wanted to be the one to hold her in his arms and protect her innocence from the world. It wasn't up to him anymore, though. It pained him to admit it, to let her go.

_From the first breath she breathed_

_When she first smiled at me_

_I knew the love of a father runs deep_

_Someday you might know what I'm going through_

_When a miracle smiles up at you_

_I loved her first…_

No matter what was going on in her life, no matter who she had given her heart to, she would always be his little girl – his miracle. He would always watch over his baby daughter.

He looked down at her as she embraced her new husband in their first dance. He would always be there, looking down on her from his place in the heavens. She would forever be his baby. A tear slipped down his cheek as he watched Mrs Jack Sparrow sway gently in her husband's arms, her head lying against his chest.

'_Yes,' _thought Weatherby Swann tenderly as he glanced at his wife. He looking back down on his daughter and her husband. _'I loved her first…'_

**_Just a quick oneshot that wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote it down!_**

**_Please review!_**

**_Spellwrite_**


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